Aigul Kuspan, Head of the Mission of Kazakhstan to the EU, held a video conference with members of the European Parliament

On April 8, 2020, the first video conference was held with members of the European Parliament on the current situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19), as well as issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union.

The members of the Delegation of the European Parliament for Central Asia and the Kazakhstan – EU friendship Group – Ryszard Czarnecki (Poland), Atidzhe Alieva-Veli (Bulgaria), Maximiillian Krah(Germany) and Thierry Mariani (France) attended the event. In addition, given some technical difficulties, MEPs Andris Ameriks (Latvia) and Kinga Gal (Hungary) were represented by their advisers.

Ambassador of Kazakhstan Aigul Kuspan emphasized the important role of parliamentarians in strengthening the strategic partnership of Kazakhstan and the European Union, especially in light of the entry into force of the Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the EU on March 1. In this regard, she praised the results of the regular meeting of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the European Union, held on February 25-27 in Nur Sultan.

The Kazakh diplomat informed in detail about the decisions of the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and practical actions of the government aimed at preventing the outbreak of coronavirus, providing support to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as fulfilling social obligations to the population. Parliamentarians welcomed the sanitary and anti-crisis measures undertaken by Kazakhstan.

In turn, the members of the European Parliament spoke about the situation in their countries - Poland, Bulgaria, Germany. Chairman of the Kazakhstan-EU friendship Group, Ryszard Czarnecki stressed that the coronavirus pandemic has become the most serious threat to humanity since the Second World War. Deputy Chairman of the Delegation of the European Parliament for Central Asia, Atidzhe Alieva-Veli shared her experience of working with constituents in this difficult time. Maximiillian Krah noted a relatively low death rate in Germany. At the same time, the impact on the economy of this country and the European Union as a whole, will be, in his opinion, very noticeable.

The participants of the video conference noted that not a single EU state was prepared for the tragic consequences of the pandemic for thousands of human lives, or for the grave consequences for national economies, the scale of which is still difficult to imagine. The pandemic has become a reminder of the importance of mutual support, friendship and solidarity.

These values are the basis of the activity of the Kazakhstan-EU parliamentary Friendship Group. The MEPs welcomed the initiative of the Kazakh Embassy to hold a video conference and agreed to organize the next video call with their Kazakh colleagues.